Family members and those close to children are failing to report cases of sexual abuse, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services says. That agency said today that reported cases of sex abuse against children are up in Downstate Illinois. Rachel Otwell reports:

DCFS says more than half of the people reported for child sex abuse were related to the victim. But the vast majority of those reports came not from family members, but professionals who are required by law to report abuse. Dave Clarkin is a spokesman for DCFS. He says reported child sexual abuse cases are up six percent outside Cook County. And that’s NOT because more cases are being reported.

CLARKIN :”And part of the reason is that the vast majority of the reports that we see, receive are from trained professionals in law enforcement, in social services, in education who are using the same standards across the state that they’ve been using for years.”

DCFS wants about 40 million dollars from the General Assembly … nearly half of what was cut from its budget for the current fiscal year. Clarkin says that money would help the agency reorganize, and put more employees into investigative roles.